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Spencer Davis led the most laps in his Teddy Christopher-inspired throwback scheme at Thompson Speedway on Saturday night. Photo by NASCAR Home Tracks

NASCAR K&N East Notebook: Throwback 100 cements championship picture

Tyler Ankrum has a 22-point lead over Tyler Dippel with six races remaining

July 15, 2018

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Driving the famous black No. 13 made famous by Modified legend Ted Christopher, Spencer Davis finished a frustrating fourth on Saturday night in the NASCAR K&N East Throwback 100 at Thompson Speedway as a lack of grip cost him a potential shot at his first victory of the season.

"We missed a little bit on the setup," Davis said after the race. "I’m the setup guy, so I can’t blame anybody besides myself. We missed on it. Just missed on it.”

The first 60 laps of the race went according to plan for Davis. Starting on the pole after Tyler Ankrum’s qualifying time was disallowed, Davis was the race’s only leader. Ruben Garcia Jr. chased him in second, but was unable to close the gap with Davis.

In the latter portion of the race, Davis’ hold on the top spot began to slip as both Garcia and Ankrum started cutting into his once-comfortable lead. The battle briefly cooled off when Garcia and Ankrum tangled on lap 66, resulting in Garcia’s car spinning in turn four.

Despite the brief respite for Davis, he was unable to hold onto the lead. On the second lap after the restart, Davis ceded control of the lead to Dylan Bassett, and never got it back.

"I think I could’ve run the race a bit differently," Davis said. "With that being said, when you think it’s going to go all green at the end, you go and you just hope for the best."

Still, the 19-year-old was excited that the new team, owned by Danny Watts, was able to continue its string of strong runs in 2018. Only once has the team finished outside the top-10 so far this season.

"It’s the first time for our team here [at Thompson]," Davis said. "To sit on the pole, have a track record, and finish fourth isn’t bad, especially for a five-race-old team with two full-time employees."

Spencer Davis looks to finish the job this Saturday when the K&N Pro Series heads to Loudon, New Hampshire.

Ruben Garcia Jr. got a bit too greedy in the Throwback 100, spinning himself out while in a three-car battle for the lead.

Garcia ran second for the entirety of the first half of the race behind Spencer Davis. As the laps began to wind down, Garcia slowly but surely started eating into Davis’ lead.

"I knew we were better than the 13 at the end, because he was getting slower and slower, and we were maintaining the same speed," Garcia said after the race.

Unfortunately for Garcia, Tyler Ankrum was closing in on him.

When Garcia tried to make a move for the lead on Davis, the gap between the front two and Ankrum evaporated, leaving the second-place Garcia between a rock and a hard place. When Ankrum dove past him, he tried to take the spot back in turn three. The two made contact, however, and Garcia went spinning in turn four.

Not enough laps remained for Garcia to mount a serious charge, and he finished ninth out of the 13 drivers in the race.

Garcia was quick to put the blame for the spin on himself.

"Just a mistake on my part," the Mexico City native said. "I feel bad for my team, because they really have been doing a great job the last few races, putting together top-three cars every single week. It makes me feel confident for the next race, but it’s still not the finish they deserve.”

Thankfully for Garcia, the schedule going forward is certainly to his liking.

"We’re going to tracks we really like, especially the two races after New Hampshire [Iowa ad Watkins Glen]" said Garcia. "They’re pretty good racetracks for us… We’re definitely stronger at this point now than we were last year, so that only means another good run and we’ll get another win this year."

Garcia currently sits sixth in the points standings, 72 markers back of Ankrum.

After he was sent to the rear for failing to pass post-qualifying inspection, there was nothing that was going to stop Tyler Ankrum from charging through the field to win the NASCAR K&N East ...

Dream season for Tyler Ankrum continues

It is not an overstatement in saying that 2018 has been better than Tyler Ankrum could have imagined.

The 17-year-old from San Bernadino, California, has finished no worse than ninth all season.

He has led laps in six of the eight races contested so far, and Ankrum’s average finish of 3.5 is tops among all drivers. Twice Ankrum has visited victory lane, and nobody else has led the points since Bristol back in April. The drive put on by Ankrum to put the No. 17 team in victory lane for the second time this season was especially remarkable, however.

After posting the fastest time in final practice, Ankrum set a new track record and won the pole. Unfortunately for the series’ point leader, the pole-winning time was disallowed after the car failed post-qualifying inspection.

"We weren’t really expecting to be taken to the back," Ankrum said. "It was such a close error… It was kind of ridiculous, but you know what? Stuff happens, and it was called by NASCAR. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter."

Almost the entirety of the drive to the front was done on the 65-lap, green-flag run to open the race. With so much of the race the year prior based around tire conservation, Ankrum found it a pleasant surprise his car was still quick after having charged through much of the field.

"Honestly, at the end of the day, I was surprised with how fast our car was," Ankrum said. "At the end, I was expecting my tires to be pretty much worn out by the time I got to third or fourth."

Had the race gone green all the way to the checkered flag, Ankrum still thought the race was his.

"I think if the thing went green, it wouldn’t have been an issue," Ankrum said. "Definitely made my job a little bit tougher on the restart, Spencer Davis jumping the start like that. Fell back to third or fourth, and still made a hell of a show out of the whole thing."

With the win, Ankrum padded his point lead to 22. Now, he turns towards Loudon next Saturday, a 1.058-mile oval he’s never raced at before. Luckily, he’s got plenty of resources that will help him prepare for the challenge.

"We’re going to be spending a lot of time on the simulator, iRacing," Ankrum said. "We’ll do a lot of time just talking, watching film. A lot of it will help because we have David Gilliland, our team owner, who’s run there a lot. He’ll be huge."